Winter Outing
by badly-knitted
Summary: On a cold and snow-covered winter's day, Dee and Ryo take the kids from Mother's orphanage out to play in the snow. Written for Challenges 50: Kids, 163: Ball, and 67: Weather at fan flashworks. Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** Winter Outing

 **Author:** badly_knitted

 **Characters:** Dee, Ryo, Bikky, Carol, OCs.

 **Rating:** G

 **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

 **Summary:** On a cold and snow-covered winter's day, Dee and Ryo take the kids from Mother's orphanage out to play in the snow.

 **Word Count:** 953

 **Written For:** Challenge 213: Amnesty at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 50: Kids. Also works for 163: Ball, and 67: Weather.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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Ryo still wasn't quite sure how this had happened. Dee just had an uncanny knack of being able to talk him into things, often against his better judgement. It wasn't as if Ryo was some kind of stick in the mud who didn't know how to have fun, but there was fun and then there was freezing your ass off out in the cold for three hours.

The kids from the orphanage were having a great time though, and that was all that really mattered. Well, that and giving Mother a break from looking after them for the afternoon. Bikky and Carol had been roped in to help, but even so it was a job for the four of them to wrangle nineteen kids aged between five and fifteen. Thankfully, the three oldest kids were lending a hand too, which meant they hadn't lost anyone so far, although that could still happen…

Central Park looked wonderful after the previous night's heavy snowfall, and the kids, all bundled up against the cold, were revelling in the opportunity to go wild and blow off some steam in the wide expanse of whiteness. Some of them were engaged in a free-for-all snowball fight, while others were busy building snowmen, and still others were waiting their turn to skim down the slope on Bikky's old sled. The air was filled with delighted screams and laughter. And snow.

Doing a quick head count, Ryo turned and was hit full in the face with a snowball.

"Oops, sorry babe! Why'd ya have to turn around just then? I was aimin' for your back!"

Dee; Ryo probably should've guessed it would be him. Wiping snow out of his eyes, he glared at his partner. "I was checking we hadn't lost anybody in a snowdrift or something." He stamped his feet, trying to warm them up a bit, wishing he was someplace warm. Being cold was doing nothing to improve his mood.

"You know why you're cold, don't ya?" Dee said, staring back at him, gloved hands on his hips.

"Because it's barely above freezing and there's snow everywhere?" Biting sarcasm seemed the best response to such a stupid question. Of course he was cold; who wouldn't be in this weather?

"No, it's because you're just standin' there watchin' us, not actually doin' anything. Everybody else is keepin' warm enough. C'mon, join in the snowball fight, or build a snowman. I guarantee you'll soon feel a lot warmer."

"Dee, we have nineteen kids under our supervision. Someone has to keep an eye on them!"

"You don't have to stand still to do that. Have some fun. Live a little." Dee was scooping up another handful of snow and shaping it into a ball as he spoke. "Arm yourself, because I AM gonna throw this at you!"

"You wouldn't!"

"I already did, or have you forgotten?" Dee drew back his arm and took aim.

Ryo ducked to one side, but the snowball still got him. Cursing in Japanese, he scooped up some snow and threw it back but he hadn't taken the time to form a proper snowball and it failed to reach its target.

"Ha! You missed! Is that the best you can do?"

No, it wasn't, and Ryo was not taking this lying down. He'd soon wipe the smirk off Dee's face. Gathering another handful of snow, he shaped it into a ball and hurled it at Dee, just missing him as he dodged out of the way, and getting hit again himself. He growled in frustration; that did it, this was war!

Soon the snowball fight was on in earnest, although now it wasn't just the two of them involved. The kids were joining in with gusto having decided that if the adults were throwing snowballs at each other, it must mean it was okay if they did so too.

Snowballs flew back and forth, some hitting their intended targets, some hitting innocent bystanders, and a few missing everybody completely, although a couple of snowmen suffered some collateral damage. Eventually, Ryo managed to get retaliation for that first snowball, scoring a solid hit on the side of Dee's head that knocked his woolly hat off and left melting snow in his hair, dripping down his face.

Ryo stood there, laughing breathlessly, as Dee retrieved his hat and shook the snow off it, then used the end of his scarf to dry his head before putting the hat back on. He hadn't lost his smirk though.

"Warmer now?" he asked.

It surprised Ryo a little to realise he wasn't just warm but bordering on hot. "Yes," he admitted, a little grudgingly. "Fine, you were right. Happy now?"

"Deliriously." Dee looked up at the sky. "It'll start gettin' dark soon; we'd best round up the rugrats and take 'em back to Mother. If I know her, she'll have hot cocoa waitin' by the time we get there." Dee rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

It took a little while to sort out which kids they'd arrived with and which belonged to other people, making sure they reunited the extras with the correct parents, but finally they steered their nineteen towards the park entrance, where they piled into the minibus Dee had hired for the excursion.

Ryo did one final headcount once they were all aboard, and then with Dee at the wheel they set off back towards the orphanage.

"That was fun; we should do it again sometime," Dee said as Ryo settled into the seat behind him.

"I was just thinking that too. Maybe when the weather gets better we could take them to the zoo," Ryo suggested.

"Hm, not a bad idea."

It was definitely something to think about.

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The End


End file.
